Scandalous Prince

by Van Dyken, Rachel

  “Grow a pair,” Andrei growled and then crooked his finger at Violet.

  She seemed relieved that the devil wanted to chat with her.

  Never thought I’d see the day when Violet was happy to see Andrei. He was like the horror story you tell small children, the monster who lived under your bed, the demon that hovered over your lifeless body at night.

  She gave her dad a kiss on the cheek and then made her way over to us. Her perma-smile made my face hurt.

  “Gentleman.” She leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed Andrei once on each cheek and then gave me a cold stare.

  Deserved.

  She hated that the one guy who got under her skin, the one person who knew her better than she knew herself, was forced to watch her while she pretended to be what Chase needed her to be. I swear every single time I stole a heated glance in her direction, I prayed she’d remember our first kiss or dry humping like idiots with raging hormones in her dad’s pool house.

  I blew her a kiss and winked.

  She clenched her teeth like she wanted to bite me and then turned her attention to Andrei, flashing him a shiny bright smile. “Did you need something?”

  “I think…” Andrei grinned. “…it’s you who needs something. We’re going to let you escape, though you’ll need to make a small detour at the club.”

  Her eyes widened. “Really?”

  “Really,” I said dryly. “I’m going to help Andrei. It won’t be long. You can drink your weight in cosmos, and I’ll even carry your ass out the door when you’re too drunk to walk in a straight line.”

  She flinched. “My hero.”

  “I try.” I smirked.

  She seemed to shudder, and then she gave Andrei a curt nod. “Sounds fun. Let me just let my dad know I’m not getting kidnapped.”

  “I wish,” I muttered under my breath, earning a sharp heel slamming into my right foot.

  I winced.

  Again, deserved.

  Candles flickered around the room as more people started to dance and drink. Hell, it felt like a cult; the way they worshipped Chase wasn’t right.

  He was too rich.

  Too powerful.

  Too good looking.

  And he had the ear of the United States President.

  Hell had indeed frozen over for the state of Illinois. If only they knew who wielded all the power now that he was in office, now that he could put who he wanted into the cabinet, now that he’d helped pick advisors.

  I sighed as he made his way over to us.

  “Keep her safe,” he snarled under his breath.

  “My blood for hers.” I gave the pledge I always did since I had first started following her last year.

  Chase leaned in and kissed my right cheek then whispered, “Make sure she has a bit of fun. She’s pissed she’s had to wear those heels for three hours.”

  “When is she not pissed at these things?” I wondered out loud.

  “It’s necessary,” he said coldly. “And remember the rules, no touching her, no looking at her and fantasizing, absolutely nothing that could mean I’ll have to kill you.”

  “Got it.” I stood back and winked. “Plus, I have enough female attention, the last thing I need is one who’d probably suffocate me with a pillow just to see my legs twitch.”

  Chase grinned. “That was a good day.”

  “Yeah, it really was, nearly dying.” I rolled my eyes. “Have fun. Give Luc my love.”

  “My wife,” he barked.

  I made a face, “I’m eighteen, don’t be weird.”

  Andrei just chuckled under his breath while Violet returned with her matching white coat.

  Sometimes I wondered if Chase did it on purpose.

  Made her wear white to make himself look less covered in blood.

  Made her wear white to remind me she was an untouchable queen.

  And I? I was the slave. The adopted bastard son of someone he didn’t even ask to know.

  Wouldn’t that be the shock of his life?

  I almost laughed.

  “Let’s go.” I put an arm around Violet and attempted to keep my body from reacting like it always did when we were this close.

  But it was like holding your breath.

  You last thirty seconds, maybe more, and then you’re gasping for air, greedy for it; my hands trembled a bit as I lowered my palm down her back and held it there.

  She sucked in a sharp breath but didn’t look in my direction.

  And when we got into the waiting limo, she kept her expression blank as she stared straight ahead.

  Classical music turned on.

  I groaned. “Tchaikovsky? Really, Andrei?”

  He smacked me in the back of the head. “It’s called culture, I’m almost insulted to call you—” He hesitated. “Human.”

  I exhaled the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

  Nice save asshole.

  Violet shifted in the leather seat, drumming her fingertips along her tanned thigh.

  I reached for her hand and scowled. “Red fingernail polish how scandalous, next thing your dad knows, you’re going to start having sex and watching porn.”

  She jerked her hand away, her cheeks flushed. “Could you keep your lewd thoughts to yourself, Campisi?”

  “I could. Will I? No, no, I won’t. I like pushing your buttons”. Pushing, touching, caressing, really, I didn’t discriminate when it came to her or any other girl. I gave her a chipper grin. “Besides, who else is going to teach you about the birds and the bees. See guys have these things called cocks and—”

  “Andrei, if you don’t muzzle him, I’m going to pull out my knife and shove it against his scrawny throat!”

  “There she is.” I slow clapped. “Welcome back to earth, princess. You’re not in front of the cameras; people aren’t hanging on your every word while you discuss global warming and the need for true leadership in America. You’re so damn uptight I wouldn’t be surprised if those diamond earrings came from your ass.”

  Andrei chuckled and looked up from his phone. “I approve of this message.”

  “You’re both impossible.” She crossed her arms and then moved against the leather again and sighed, pulling down her skirt.

  “Knife.” I held out my hand.

  After some hesitation, she dug into her purse then handed it to me; it had the Abandonato crest on the hilt and was sharp as hell.

  I tore into her expensive dress and made quick work of creating two slits on either side of her dress. “Better?”

  She swallowed uncomfortably and nodded. Shit, she was still thinking about the party, still wondering if her performance was good enough, probably going over every mistake that nobody even saw.

  I sighed and handed her the knife back. “The pointy side goes—”

  She let out a shriek then held the pointy side dangerously close to my dick. See? All she needed was a bit of encouragement.

  “You better pray to God we don’t get in an accident or slam on the brakes because you’ll lose the smallest appendage you have.”

  I barked out a laugh. God, I loved her like this. “Yes, because that’s what girls say when I fuck them. You were on vacation with us last year. Did you hear any complaints?”

  Her face fell.

  Best friends that can never be together.

  Fun story.

  Tell me more.

  “Children.” Andrei yawned. “Put the knives away. Please.”

  Violet jerked away.

  I flipped her off.

  And the universe naturally restored itself to rights.

  With Violet ready to impale me.

  And my body wishing it could impale her.

  Fantastic.

  The car finally pulled up to Andrei’s club. One of his giant bouncers was already opening the front door to let us in.

  People waited in the freezing Chicago cold with the hopes to gain entrance when it was nearly impossible after eleven at night.

  Shrieks were heard when
all three of us made our way to the front of the line. They knew what we were, who we were—the whole world did—but nobody could really prove shit, and when you had people in the FBI, CIA, NSA, and the highest levels of government on your payroll, things just naturally went missing.

  Files.

  Hard Drives.

  People.

  We ducked into the club; the techno was a welcome change from the classical music in the car.

  We wandered over to the bar, I pulled out Violet’s chair, and then I crooked my finger at the bartender. “Keep her hydrated.”

  “Whatever you say, Breaker.” Tank winked.

  Not only did the guy work for the FBI, but on really busy nights, he took on a shift at the club to learn people’s secrets, because alcohol tended to make you loose-lipped and because we still had lots of enemies.

  “Think you’ll be able to survive without me?” I whispered in Violet’s ear.

  She shot me a glare. “Must you stand so close?”

  “Must you be so fucking tempting?” I snapped my teeth and then ran a bare knuckle down her shoulder.

  Her skin immediately broke out in goosebumps. “Not here, Breaker, don’t.”

  “I love it when your innocent little mouth lies while your body shakes for me… literally,” I growled. “One day, I might lose all self-control. I hope to God I’m the one that gets to watch you come undone.”

  She gave me a hard shove, but her eyes said something completely different; they always did, they always had, they always would. “If I wanted syphilis, there are more enjoyable ways to get it! And people to get it from.”

  I cackled out a laugh. “Yeah, okay, don’t go running off, I’ll be right back.”

  I was gone maybe twenty minutes, helping Andrei with the girls as they were introduced one by one, given numbers instead of names—his idea to keep it all about business. Money exchanged hands. And then the announcement was made.

  The auction would start in four minutes.

  Men of all shapes and sizes started shuffling into the private rooms to watch the women, to watch the show. They couldn’t touch, but they could bid, and all their money was going into setting the women free that we could.

  It was a shit show.

  All in all, about half the women decided to stay as long as they were given citizenship.

  The others wanted to go back.

  I yawned behind my hand as I watched it all go down and then nearly shit myself when a group of five men walked into the room who were most definitely not Team Andrei.

  Or team Italy.

  “Drei,” I barked as my worst nightmare walked into the small room, holding my everything hostage, including my heart. “Problem.”

  My life would not be the same after this.

  Neither would hers.

  For once, I understood the feeling of being completely powerless as I looked into her eyes and knew.

  This moment would alter us forever.

  And there would be no going back.

  I moved to grab her, to kill every last one of those bastards that held her in their arms, but Andrei held out his hand, stopping me instantly in my tracks. “No.”

  Rage pulsed in cadence to the heavy drum of my heartbeat as blood roared inside my body.

  They had no right to touch her.

  Violet locked eyes with me and slowly nodded as if to say, stop, it’s okay, but she didn’t know what these guys did, and she had no clue that the look she was giving me would haunt me into the next life and maybe more.

  It wasn’t a look of war.

  It was one that said to keep the peace.

  And she would be the first sacrifice.

  Chapter One

  The way a crow shook down on me. The dust of snow, from a hemlock tree. Has given my heart. A change of mood. And saved some part. Of a day I rued —Robert Frost

  Violet

  I should have stayed at the bar like I was told. Instead, I decided that I wanted to dance a bit, or a lot, since I was only ever allowed to dance with my dad at political events.

  I’d never even been to a club that wasn’t owned by someone my family owned—and they rarely let me go to Andrei’s by myself, for good reason.

  I knew the sort of depraved things that went on here. As much as my dad tried to protect me. You can’t protect your eldest daughter from the horrors of a sex club you helped protect day in and day out.

  My dad was both a hero and a villain; he played whatever role he needed to in order to keep the Family safe, and now that we were even more in the public eye, I worried about the toll it would take on the great Chase Abandonato. Other politicians called him the Dark Horse.

  They had no clue how right they were because the minute he threw his hat in the game, it was already over, already won, a parade already planned.

  Because he was Chase Abandonato.

  And they would always be beneath him—beneath our Family.

  I wasn’t able to dance long. I held my rum and coke in one hand and tried to maneuver my body through the sweaty people to get to where I saw some space when it happened.

  A hand over my mouth—leather gloves protecting his fingers.

  And an arm around my waist picking me up like I was a rag doll he’d just purchased and was in a hurry to get home.

  My drink fell to the floor with a loud crash.

  But nobody heard it break.

  Just like nobody heard my scream.

  Because the people in that club were used to that sort of thing. The way they saw it, I was probably already bought and paid for by whomever had just taken me.

  “You won’t get away with this!” I yelled.

  “Muzzle it.” He snapped back, his breath was foul as he yelled in my ear, he smelled like old cigars, whiskey, and something tangy that made me gag.

  He carried me kicking and screaming past the dance floor, meaning Tank didn’t see a thing, and neither did my favorite bodyguard of Andrei’s, Ax.

  “My father’s going to kill you!” I added in for effect because he would, and the fact that he’d make it painfully slow was the only thing that calmed me.

  Because even if I died like this.

  His death? This man carrying me?

  It would be unimaginable.

  That was a fact.

  Something my dad promised me over and over again when I was a child expecting a fairy tale—he always swore he’d avenge me in the most bloodthirsty way, and for some reason, that’s what put me to bed at night with a smile on my face.

  My daddy’s bloody promise.

  My daddy’s oath of honor and revenge.

  We made it to one of the metal doors, he knocked twice, and when it opened, it revealed both Andrei and Breaker in a room with five other men.

  I breathed a sigh of relief when Andrei’s expression turned hard. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “I want proof.” He set me on my feet and then wrapped a blindfold around my eyes before I could memorize the faces of the other four men, one of them was younger than the others; he had brownish hair and was muscular; that stood out against the older men’s wrinkled faces. But that was all I noticed.

  “Proof?” Andrei spat. “Careful, you do realize who you’re speaking to?”

  “I do, and that’s why we need proof.” A deep Russian accented voice spoke up. “You say you’re still in the trade, and yet, your alliance with the Italians is, shall we say, extremely disconcerting.”

  A laugh erupted from someone, and then Andrei voiced. “And I should be concerned that you’re uncomfortable because…?”

  “Because there are whispers of the great Andrei Petrov going soft, being, how did they put it… oh yes…” He laughed. “…fucking domesticated.”

  This was bad.

  Really bad.

  I jerked against the man again but flinched when something sharp pricked my arm and then went deeper.

  “What the hell did you give me?” I roared.

  “Just something to make it easier to
hold onto you… Jacko’s getting old, and you’re struggling isn’t helping,” a smooth voice said.

  I didn’t recognize that voice, but it sounded… friendlier…

  My body suddenly felt like it weighed a thousand pounds as I slowly slumped back against my captor. It was like he’d put me in a dreamlike state.

  I was there.

  But I was also somewhere else.

  I didn’t like the lack of control, and I hated that the voices were even harder to focus on now.

  “…it has to be a Petrov,” one said.

  “…you know the price must be paid, pure of blood…”

  What? What pure blood?

  “He will do it.”

  “I need proof, damn it!” someone yelled.

  I shook my head. Focus. Just focus on something familiar.

  I couldn’t see anything but the blackness in front of me and could feel nothing but the warmth that continued to weigh down my muscles, my bones.

  My head lolled to the side.

  The man holding me cursed. “So, it has been confirmed?”

  Confirmed?

  “Thirteen minutes, one camera, this will be the best day of his life, fucking mafia royalty, being her first.”

  My first?

  My brain told me to panic.

  It told me to fight.

  Run.

  But all I could do was inhale, exhale, measure my breaths as I was slowly handed over to someone else.

  He had rough hands.

  Hands that made me wonder about what sort of man would take a girl’s innocence without a second thought.

  My heart dropped when I was suddenly picked up and carried somewhere. I couldn’t control my head as it fell back, exposing my neck.

  “Beautiful.” The accented male voice whispered.

  Maybe he would be kind.

  Maybe he wouldn’t take what wasn’t his to take.

  Maybe he would save me.

  All the things I thought and prayed as my sluggish body tried to alert itself to what was about to happen, clearly my anxiety was pumping whatever drug they gave me through my system fast enough to start to clear my head.

  I should have just asked one of the guys to take my virginity, one of my friends, though the only one who even tempted me was currently outside with Andrei allowing this horror to take place.

  I would have given Breaker everything and several times almost did only to realize that my dad would murder him and I couldn’t have the death of my best friend on my conscience no matter how annoying he was or how he paraded girls in front of me like he wanted me to know he was getting it somewhere else.